Life is a journey, not a destination.
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RONNIE’S RAMBLINGS
Vol 02 Issue 21 12.07.2015 PUBLISHED BY Wilson Photography
established Viii-Xiv-mmxiv
Cover photo:
Danville’s Maddy Krodel drives around and under an Avon defender.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Ronnie’s Ramblings
Four
In this issue...
Swimming/Diving
Six
Wrestling
Sixty
Basketball
Seventy-Six
County results
Eighty-nine
If all payments were in whole dollars, that would be “cents”-less. Unk 2
follow us on twitter! @Ronniesrambling
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PUBLISHED BY Wilson Photography
RONNIE’S RAMBLINGS Vol 02 Issue 21 12.07.2015
To purchase/view photos go to hcsportsandmore.smugmug.com
Masthead RONNIE WILSON -
FOUNDER PUBLISHER EDITOR WRITER PHOTOGRAPHER
&
NOELANI LANGILLE - CREATIVE DIRECTOR - ART DIRECTOR - DESIGNER - PHOTO EDITOR - PHOTOGRAPHER column photo, pages 4/5
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RONNIE’S RAMBLINGS
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What Christmas means... By Ronnie Wilson
ecently, I received an email referencing the following perspective on Christmas. I found it very thought provoking. I think you might also. The “War on Christmas” is back, a tradition that has grown as old and stale as last year’s eggnog. It’s become so inane that it’s easy to forget that real feelings and people are involved. It has become a proxy fight, the Vietnam of the culture wars. The instigators are the Christian right but also politicians who manipulate people’s deepest emotions for votes and the tiniest advantage against political opponents. “Standing up for Christmas” is the same thing as defending apple pie and motherhood. It takes no courage, because none of these things are really “under attack,” but the continuous “War on Christmas” nonsense is driving a lot of the joy out of the holiday. I used to love Christmas. When I was a child my family wasn’t religious, but my parents put extreme time, effort and money into making Christmas special. There were too many presents,
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too much food and the entire world stopped spinning for a month so we could participate in community and family activities. None of this involved church, ever, and Christmas carries a great many of my best childhood memories. One of my most vivid memories of Christmas is of my mother wrapping a gift in plain paper for my aunt, who was a Buddhist. It stands out in my mind, because I knew very few non-Christians as a child. My mother knew enough, even before discussions of diversity were common, to try and give a gift to my aunt on her terms. My mother was careful to avoid shoving her traditions down someone’s throat. To this day it is one of the most beautiful gestures of understanding I remember from the holidays. If people could just
hang on to that sense of respect, there would be no fictional “War on Christmas” narrative. Contrary to the bizarre religious posturing offered by Linus in the classic “Peanuts” special, Christmas is not about Jesus. Not for a sizable minority of us. For most of my life, Jesus has been a bit player. Over the last few years, a cottage industry of Christmas pushers and religious fundamentalists have
manufactured a list of penalties and prohibitions to dictate how each and every American must celebrate the holiday. Christmas has become about religious coercion. In my early twenties, I belonged to an aggressive, fundamentalist church. If someone wished us “happy holidays” we treated it as a chance to “reach out” to the “unsaved.” I don’t think fundamentalists are the ones yelling the loudest about the “War on Christmas,” but rather I suspect it’s the casual Christians who are the problem. They are the people who feel guilty about
not being religious enough and who lie to pollsters about how often they go to church. They yell louder and foam at the mouth, but in the end are some of the least committed and most hypocritical members of the faith community. That is why they need Christmas. If their houses aren’t lit up like, well, a Christmas tree, then someone might notice their lack of any other outward religious observance. The fear of a waning Christmas is of course preposterous. Have you stepped outside? Turned on the television? The holiday is a bloated, shrieking testament to excess, ever encroaching on other holidays like Thanksgiving and Halloween. When every street stops looking like the inside of Santa’s colon, people can start to worry. But this needless sideshow creates real problems. When people feel coerced, they react in unpredictable (and sometimes hilarious) ways. No one has been as gratuitous as those wacky “Satanists.” I
like to describe them as wacky, because I think there are few people who actually worship that fictional, red-coated being (I mean Satan here rather than Santa). There is nothing as effective or more disquieting than a statue of Baphomet sitting next to a nativity scene on a courthouse lawn. The compelling points made by this fringe, eye-poking movement shows just how asinine the very conversation has become. When vast numbers of the public are drafted into the culture war, someone is making money off it. Perhaps those puppeteers seek votes or ratings or perhaps just relevance, but someone is purposely driving the rightleaning political base into ever more hysterical outrage. Tell Americans that liberals, atheists and Muslims are coming for their beloved holiday, and you can almost hear the cash filling Karl Rove’s bank account. Fox News generates money and relevance by turning over every rock in the Midwest in search of more fabricated Christmas victims to drive ratings during the holiday news cycle. The saddest part is that some people in the dominant culture
Continued on page 89, see Christmas
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Cascade’s Zoey Crum swims the Backstroke por
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Swimming Diving Photos by Ronnie Wilson
rtion of the Girls 200 Medley Relay at Plainfield.
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Plainfield’s Rachel Jones swims the Breaststroke po
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ortion of the Girls 200 Medley Relay versus Cascade.
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Cascade’s Kristi Deweese swims the Butterfly po
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ortion of the Girls 200 Medley Relay at Plainfield.
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Plainfield’s Kailah Ciasto swims the Butterfly port
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tion of the Girls 200 Medley Relay versus Cascade.
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Cascade’s Levi Priest swims the Backstroke por
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rtion of the boys 200 medley relay at Plainfield.
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Plainfield’s Branden Strange swims the Backstroke p
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portion of the Boys 200 Medley Relay versus Cascade.
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Cascade’s Jordan Vanwinkle swims the Breaststrok
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ke portion of the Boys 200 Medley Relay at Plainfield.
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Plainfield’s Davis Knopp swims the Breaststroke
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portion of the 200 Medley Relay versus Cascade.
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Cascade’s Griffin Crum swims the Butterfly por
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rtion of the Boys 200 Medley Relay at Plainfield.
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Plainfield’s Barrett Noggle swims the Butterfly port
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tion of the Boys 200 Medley Relay versus Cascade.
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Cascade’s Jillian Hansen swims th
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he Girls 200 Freestyle at Plainfield.
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Plainfield’s Emily Price swims the G
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Girls 200 Freestyle versus Cascade.
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Plainfield’s Jonathan Price swims th
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he Boys 200 freestyle versus Cascade.
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Cascade’s Ryan Lennox swims the
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e Boys 200 Freestyle at Plainfield.
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Avon’s Angelica Scanland swims the Breaststroke po
Photo courtesy of Avon High School Athletic Department
ortion of the Girls 200 Medley Relay versus Plainfield.
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Avon’s Lauren Myers swims the Freestyle portion
Photo courtesy of Avon High School Athletic Department
n of the Girls 200 Medley Relay versus Plainfield.
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Plainfield’s Rachel Graves swim the Backstroke
Photo courtesy of Avon High School Athletic Department
e portion of the Girls 200 Medley Relay at Avon.
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Avon’s Garrett Hammons starts the Bo
Photo courtesy of Avon High School Athletic Department
oys 200 Medley Relay versus Plainfield.
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Plainfield’s Noah Grider swims the Butterfly p
Photo courtesy of Avon High School Athletic Department
portion of the Boys 200 Medley Relay at Avon.
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Avon’s Victoria Wendt swims the Gi
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irls 20-0 Freestyle versus Plainfield.
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Avon’s Grant Sprout swims the Boy
Photo courtesy of Avon High School Athletic Department
ys 200 Freestyle versus Plainfield.
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Avon’s Hallie Jones swims the Girls 20
Photo courtesy of Avon High School Athletic Department
00 Individual Medley versus Plainfield.
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Plainfield’s Allyson Carroll swims the Backstro
Photo courtesy of Avon High School Athletic Department
oke portion of the Girls 200 Individual Medley.
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Avon’s Hayden Czerwonky swims the Butterfly portion
Photo courtesy of Avon High School Athletic Department
n of the Boys 200 Individual Medley versus Plainfield.
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Plainfield’s Max Bridge swims the Breaststro
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oke portion of the Boys 200 Individual medley.
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Avon’s Connor Capstick in diving competition versus Plainfield.
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Avon’s Jenna Ruiz in diving competition versus Plainfield.
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Plainfield’s Jordan Partin in diving competition at Avon.
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Plainfield’s Katie Abell in diving completion at Avon.
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Wrestling Photos by Ronnie Wilson
Tri-West’s Jaiden Owens won his match a
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at 195# over his North Putnam opponent.
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Tri-West’s Max Kirk won his match at 22
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20# versus his North Putnam opponent.
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Tri-West’s Dawson Ash won his match at
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10 7-0 versus his North Putnam opponent.
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Tri-West’s DaVaughn Anderson won his mat
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tch at 113# over his North Putnam opponent.
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Tri-West’s Brinton Marvel won his match
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at 120# over his North Putnam opponent.
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Brownsburg’s Ryan Bigelow won his bo
Photo courtesy of Avon High School Athletic Department
out versus his Westfield opponent, 17-2.
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Brownsburg’s Evan Lawhead won his bout versus his Westfield opponent, 7-2.
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Brownsburg’s Nathan Walton won his bout versus his Westfield opponent, by a fall.
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Brownsburg’s CJ Damler won his bout
Photo courtesy of Avon High School Athletic Department
t over his Westfield opponent by a fall.
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Basketball Photos by Ronnie Wilson
Brownsburg’s Rielly Olmstead makes a strong move to the basket versus Cathedral.
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Brownsburg’s Aliyah Walker spe
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ells defense, R-E-J-E-C-T-I-O-N=-N.
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Brownsburg’s Tyon McKenzie drives around a Cathedral defender.
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Avon’s Ariahna Rodgers controls the opening tip of the game at Danville.
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Danville’s Hannah Newby drives around Avon’s Camille Vann.
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Danville’s Lexi Riggles shoot for three versus Avon.
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Avon’s Camille Vann makes a move toward the basket as the Avon bench watches.
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Avon’s Katrina Hopkins (30) and Danville
Photo courtesy of Avon High School Athletic Department
e’s Maleha Motter fight for a loose ball.
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Christmas,
continued from page 6 take advantage of all this passion to make people like me feel unwelcome in our own country. This one time of year, the dominant religion feels free to say, “Get with the program or you aren’t a real American.” One of my favorite Christmas memories was one year when I ate a huge steak and played Blackjack at a Reno casino. You don’t get more American than that. Christmas is at the core only marginally religious. People might attend church, but Christmas is really about family, relaxation, reflec-
tion and even presents. It’s about being out of school and off work. I’ll spare the history lesson because it’s been done, but Christmas is and always shall be a secular holiday for me. Despite my growing irritation
rage machine Bill O’Reilly, the holiday loses just a little more magic for me. To fight the constant push for Christmas orthodoxy, I’ve tried in recent years to do novel and interesting things for the holiday. Instead of buying a bunch of plastic crap from China, my wife and I are taking our children on a Caribbean vacation this year. We’ll bask in the sun, snorkel and experience the holiday as Christmas refugees. We’ll pass on many of the unsustainable highs and inevitable letdowns the holiday can bring. For me, Christmas is about the people you love — and it always will be.
For me, Christmas is about the people you love...
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at the noise and foolishness, I still like the holiday. I enjoy buying gifts for my children and I even consume cheesy Christmas specials and holiday music. But with every predictable rant by people like human out-
County Results Basketball - Girls
Avon - Lost to Martinsville, 71-45.
Brownsburg - Defeated
Western Boone, 69-58. Aliyah Walker tallied a game-high 18 points. Teammate Rielly Olmstead followed closely with 16 points. Defeated Cathedral, 51-43. Cascade - Lost to Martinsville, 80-57. Mikayla Colliler paced the Lay Cadet scoring with 21 points. Teammates Olivia Bryant and Hayleigh Walker also scored in double figures with 13 points each. Defeated Brown County, 69-46. Danville - Defeated Avon, 45-38. Hannah Newby paced the lady Warrior scoring with 14 points. Teammates Maleha Motter and Addie Collier added 12 and 11 points , respectively. For Avon, Camille Vann tallied a game-high 15 points. Teammates Katrina Hopkins and Ariahna Rodgers counted 10 each. Plainfield - Defeated Cathe-
dral, 62-57. Riley Blackwell led the Lady Quaker scoring with 14 points. Teammate Kayla Casteel counted 12 markers. Defeated Whiteland, 44-33 Riley Blackwell counted a game-high 17 points. Teammate Kyndall Spears also scored in double figures with 11 points. Tri-West - Lost to Greencastle, 58-45. Defeated Bethesda Christian, 45-38.
Basketball - Boys
Avon - Lost to Hamilton SE, 62-60.
Brownsburg - Lost to
Warren Central, 4--36. Bulldog Landon Hall tallied a gamehigh 14 points. Lost to FT. Wayne South, 77-74. Cascade - Lost to Brown County 57-42. Danville - Lost to Mooresville, 59-57 (3 OT). Warrior Jake Elliot scored a team-high 20 points. Teammate Ryan Clonc also scored in double figures with 17 markers. Plainfield - Lost to Whiteland, 55-44.
Tri-West - Defeated West-
ern Boone, 68 - 54. Defeated Covenant Christian, 68-64.
Swim/Dive - Girls
Brownsburg - Lost to
Westfield, 109-76 Plainfield - Defeated Cascade, 106-80.
Swim/Dive - Boys
Brownsburg - Lost to
Westfield, 123-63. Plainfield - Defeated Cascade, 122-55.
Wrestling
Avon - Defeated Triton Cen-
tral, 80-0. Lost to Warren Central, 44-13. Defeated Cathedral, 45-30. Defeated Wayne, 76-4. Finished 3rd at the Cathedral Super 6. Brownsburg - Defeated Westfield, 57-9. Plainfield - Defeated Whiteland, 50-19. Defeated Mooresville, 46-27. Defeated Greensburg, 40-33. Lost to New Palestine, 44-26 Defeated Homestead, 44-42.
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follow us on twitter! Ronniesrambling
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PUBLISHED BY Wilson Photography
RONNIE’S RAMBLINGS Vol 02 Issue 21 12.07.2015
To purchase view photos go to hcsportsandmore.smugmug.com
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